By DEBERA CARLTON HARRELL, P-I REPORTER

Updated 10:00 pm, Monday, December 3, 2007

Civic Light Opera's cast members must exit their theater to find a restroom, and use caution when using space heaters and hair dryers simultaneously so they don't blow a fuse.

Cascade Bicycle Club can see the sky through the roof of its headquarters-to-be, but the place has potential.

Then there's Hangar 27, the most embattled and coveted building at Warren G. Magnuson Park -- and in such bad shape the Seattle Fire Department will no longer issue temporary-use permits.

Within the next few weeks, proposals from private and non-profit groups on how to refurbish the World War II-era buildings at Sand Point's Magnuson Park will be sent from Seattle Parks and Recreation to the City Council. They include plans for developing a new tennis facility, an indoor soccer and recreational center, an upgraded musical theater for the opera, artists' lofts, and renovating an old fire station for the Cascade Bicycle Club as well as other public and private uses.

In three park department open houses held in the last few weeks, which drew nearly 300 people total, it was clear neighbors and other park users embrace the changes.

But when the City Council takes up the proposals, likely after the holidays, it will consider proposed privatization of some park-owned facilities. While none of the proposals would turn the city property over to for-profit owners, the potential loss of public access has prompted concerns.

"We all want to see Magnuson Park developed; it is a beautiful park," said Lynn Ferguson, co-chairwoman of the Northeast District Council. "I think the community is very accepting of the non-profits (organizations) that are there ... Commercial developers always want to make money -- and that is different from making it open and available to the public."

Since the city took over the park from the Navy, it has paid for improvements to keep many of the buildings in public use. But costs and continued deterioration have pushed the city to look for non-profit and for-profit partners.

If approved, the proposals would save the city the renovation and maintenance costs, said Eric Friedli, Enterprise Division Director of Seattle Parks and Recreation.

The two most controversial proposals involve a former airline hangar known as Hangar or Building 27, and Building 11, on the park's north shore.

Building 11 LLC, a for-profit group, has proposed a $7 million renovation, to include an upgraded sailing, kayak and boating center, a day care facility, food concessions or restaurants, and a health club or ministorage facility.

But the developer-driven proposal scares some community members who fear loss of access to the waterfront site, particularly with a long-term lease. Others point to possible amenities that now are limited at the huge park -- such as food service and child care.

The city also is negotiating with Arena Sports, which operates soccer and other programs out of the park's Building 2, for a 30-year lease in the larger Hangar 27.

Arena Sports, which owns and operates two other sites in Seattle and Redmond, has proposed investing about $5 million to renovate the hangar, providing bathrooms, heating and space for expanded indoor sports programs including soccer, volleyball, lacrosse, softball, batting cages, inflatable play area and work-out facilities.

"We're busting at the seams," said Don Crowe, CEO for Arena Sports. Crowe said the multisports offerings, birthday parties, and increased interest in fitness have led to growth at the Magnuson site since 1999 from about 30,000 to 300,000 participants of all ages.

Switching from the 40,000- square-foot Building 2 to Hangar 27 would allow Arena Sports to nearly double in size, Crowe said.

Arena Sports, though a for-profit, has broad support from many in the community.

The huge, open floor plan of Hangar 27 makes it a perfect site for the Rat City Roller Girls, the Northwest Crafts Alliance, Lakeside Rummage Sale and other arts and community events, group officials say. These and 11 other groups recently formed the non-profit Hangar 27 Organization (H270), aiming to offer an alternative proposal to Arena's.

Dave Lefebvre, president of the organization, wrote City Council members last month and said the group's objective is to have Hangar 27 "operated and managed by an independent, efficient and business-oriented non-profit organization that will be able to act entrepreneurially and in the public and community interest."

Kathleen Miller, president of the Northwest Crafts Alliance, which stages warehouse-sized arts events at the hangar, said similar-sized venues are already taken or too expensive to rent: "This is not a matter of us against them (Arena); it's an issue of keeping the buildings open for as many public uses as possible."

Friedli said, "It's not too late (for another proposal) until the City Council takes whatever action they want to take."